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Uganda Travel Planning

TY to all for the valuable information posted on Uganda.
We are in the planning stage for 1/2015 and including the full day chimp habituation trek in Kibale, and 4 nights bwindi to do 2 treks there. We have to choose between visiting Queen Elizabeth or Murchison national park, due to time constraint.
We have previously visited Zambia and Tanzania for both walking and driving safaris. We don't mind long drives as long as there is some nice scenery along the way.
Would appreciate any advice on which of these two parks we should include. Realize Queen Elizabeth is a stop on the way to Bwindi, and Murchison is out of the way. We would stop at the rhino sanctuary if we drove to Murchison.

I prefer Murchison to Queen Elizabeth. I think Murchison is prettier, feels more wild/remote, and I saw a few more types of animals there (e.g., giraffes--I don't there are any in QE).

That being said, I like QENP. I didn't visit the Ishasha sector, maybe there's more to see there than I know. I also thought the Kazinga channel boat ride was better than the boat ride to see Murchison Falls.

Were you thinking of going from Kibale to Murchison? If so, you may have to backtrack to Kampala.

Gritty, if we do Murchison we would drive there first, stopping at rhino sanctuary on the way.
Then Kibale, then bwindi and fly back to ENtebbe for departure.
Thank you for your comments and advice. Did you experience the problems with the oil drilling project in Murchison? This has been mentioned on the Internet as not being ideal.

totally agree with Gritty in the comparison of the two parks. NOTE in particular that that the boat ride in QE is better--far more animals seen--than the one in Murchison.
I think considering your TZ and Zambia experience, you'll want something unique that you haven't seen in land safaris. Thus, i'd recommend QE for its Kazinga Channel trip. You can do that in one of several kinds of boats. I was fine with the usual boat (yo get it from the dock below Mweya Lodge) but i think there are smaller, more canoe type boats. Do check the Uganda forum on TA also for advice, if not already done.

Sorry, forgot to check to follow up. I was in Murchison about 3 years ago, and I didn't see much in the way of oil drilling. There was an oil installation that put out light from a distance but that was it.

I recommend asking your transportation provider about how they plan to get you from Murchison to Kibale, if you're still considering this. The road that connects Masindi (the major town south of Murchision) to the highway from Kampala to Kibale is usually very bad. I think it is just one small area that tends to flood, but the one time I took that road it was barely passable. However, that was 3 years ago, maybe it's been fixed since then.

If your transportation provider plans to take you back to Kampala from Murchison, then back out to Kibale, I would recommend skipping Murchison altogether and just do QE. It's a half-day drive from Murchison to Kampala, and about another half-day to Kibale.

Hi - my husband and I went to Uganda last April for ten days and traveled by road(Kampala, QENP, Bwindi, Mbarara,Entebbe). We didn't go to Murchison, so I can't compare, but we enjoyed QENP, and the boat ride. If I may also make a suggestion...One other option that would be easy to include is Uganda Wildlife Education Centre in Entebbe (ten minutes from the airport). They have a private behind-the-scenes tour which was a great learning experience. Also, if you are interested in community tourism, I volunteer with a NGO there that arranges day time and overnight visits with rural families, http://cobatiuganda.org/. Here's our trip report, http://latitudeb.com/uganda.